29 Weeks

***THIS WEEK’S UPDATE COURTESY CHRIS***

How far along? 29 WeeksTotal weight gain/loss? +17.4 lbs (two people this week told Melissa you can’t even tell she’s pregnant when you see her from behind)Maternity clothes? Melissa picked up some Maternity threads from Loft this week, which included a few sweaters (that are beautiful and designed by our talented friend Anna) and a tank top. Melissa’s been really good about not spending a ton on maternity clothes, and when she does pick up items they are always versatile pieces that I think she’ll get a lot of use out of. If you had told me when Melissa and I found out she was pregnant that she’d spend more on gym/fitness classes than clothes, I’d be surprised, but take that for sure.Stretch marks? Nope!Sleep? Mel slept pretty well this week, waking up maybe once per night. I think I wake up more often than she does. The only thing that woke both of us up this week was when some drunkards decided to throw a frisbee in the middle of the city streets on Friday night at 2AM. When I saw those idiots it really took me back… To those nights that I NEVER got drunk and said “HEY IT’S 2AM – WE NEED TO THROW A FRISBEE!”Best moment this week? Planning-wise, it was when I signed up mini Mitch for daycare! Sooooo pumped that we are all set on the childcare front. When I arrived to sign up mini Mitch, the administrator didn’t know who I was and said “Can I help you?”

Me: “Yes, I’d like to sign my unborn child up for childcare here, so he or she could become a future leader of America.”

Administrator: [blank stare]

Welcome to the life of Chris Mitchell, filled with wild prophecies of truth and blank stares.

Pregnancy-wise, it was probably one of two moments. 1) Having an encouraging doctor’s visit on Tuesday, and 2) When Melissa was at work in a meeting with two reps, one of the reps (someone Melissa didn’t know) said she was at Soul Cycle and saw a pregnant woman dominating spin class. The rep Melissa does know was like “That was probably Melissa!” Based on the time of the pregnant-woman-domination-sighting, and where she was sitting in class – yep! It was my wife – 29 weeks pregnant and cycling like a champ. :)

Miss Anything? I don’t miss anything and I’m not sure Melissa is missing too much right now. We’re both kind of living in the moment and enjoying pregnancy right now.Movement? Tons! I feel like mini Mitch has been really active this week. This is the first week we’ve noticed you can sense movement on both sides of Melissa’s stomach. Our midwife said it must be the arms. Melissa said it’s a weird sensation when it happens, but she enjoys it. This weekend we (read: I) also put some headphones on Melissa’s stomach and played some music while the baby was sleeping. It woke mini Mitch up. I will say based on my impeccable taste in music, mini Mitch was GROOVIN’!Food cravings? Not really. Melissa’s been eating her usual healthy stuff. I’ve actually been consuming pretzel-related items at an alarming rate this week, though. A bag and a half of RODS, and a healthy amount of SOFT PRETZELS. #thePretzelLifestyleAnything making you nauseous? Nope!Symptoms? No changes this week! Still some round ligament pain for Melissa, but she bought a wedge pillow from Amazon and I think it’s helping out some, which is great. We’ve been toying with the idea of Melissa checking out a chiropractor to help with the round ligament pain, but I’m unsure if she’s gonna go or not. We’ll see!Gender Prediction? I was pretty sure it was a boy early on, but now I’m unsure. Melissa doesn’t have any feeling on this matter, yet her mom is convinced it’s a boy. We’ll see!Labor Signs? Nope – hopefully in a few months!Belly Button in or out? In, but I cannot wait for it to be out. No reason why, maybe because then I can touch it and annoy Melissa hehehe…Wedding rings on or off? On!Mood? Calm as a clam and feelin’ good! We’ve both been pretty happy this week. Having the registry and daycare stuff done checked two big things off of our “pregnancy to-do” list, so I think we’re both enjoying having a little less on our pregnancy plate this week.Looking forward to? Melissa is looking forward to the Salisbury Steak dinner I’m making on Thursday, and I’m looking forward to the Vogel universe-winning chili simmering on the stovetop. Yum!Now some words from Dad Mom: This was a pretty good week for us, though I did feel absolutely terrible for Chris on Monday and Tuesday. Due to his cramping during the marathon, his quad recovery seemed pretty miserable. I tried to do the best I could to help him out.

Aside from that, we had our 28 week appointment with our midwife on Tuesday where I had my gestational diabetes screening. My midwife seems to think I’m in excellent shape and would be surprised if I had any complications at this point. True to her prediction, I do not have gestational diabetes and my glucose test looked good. People always talk about having to drink this nasty syrupy drink – honestly, it was orange soda without the carbonation. I had no problem drinking it, I just wish I’d had some pizza to go with it! From now until 36 weeks we’re up to one appointment every two weeks!

We also had dinner with some friends on Friday night who we haven’t seen in a while. It was nice to catch up with them and be able to talk about some baby stuff and some non baby stuff. They have a nine month old and cloth diaper (which we’re planning to do), so it was nice to talk to them about that element. We threw a little politics in there, some of how work is going, and some hockey to round out the discussion. Not a bad evening – plus, they made us dinner ! :)